cover image SHOTS: An American Photographer's Journal 1967–1972

SHOTS: An American Photographer's Journal 1967–1972

David Fenton, . . Earth Aware Editions, $29.95 (176pp) ISBN 978-1-932771-50-3

The protest movements of the late '60s and early '70s have been documented countless times, but this collection of photos and text from Fenton, who was a young photojournalist (and idealist) in the thick of things, has a rare mix of labor of love and professionalism that makes the era feel fresh and accessible. Working for samizdat antiwar journals, as well as for the New York Times , Life and Newsweek , Fenton was a partisan, and it shows. Spread over 11½" × 10" pages, Fenton's 80 b&w photos have an immediacy that stock images from the era lack, even when overexposed or slightly out of focus. Taken together, these shots of Abby Hoffman, Mohammad Ali, Janis Joplin, soldiers, Yippies, Black Panthers and many others work to lift the burden of cliché and restore a sense of engagement. Tom Hayden and Norman Mailer contribute a foreword and "commentary" respectively; Fenton wrote the introduction and explanatory intertext. In the '80s, Fenton entered the system, founding the PR firm that bears his name and specializes in environmental issues, public health and human rights. (May)